cosse

cosse¹ pod, husk

Pronunciation

• /kɔs/^[1]

Forms

cosse f (plural cosses)^[1] Judeo-French kuss (late 11th century), then cosse (about 1225).^[2][3]

Etymology

The word for the pod is of doubtful origin, probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *coccia, an altered form of Latin cochlea (“snail, snail shell”), perhaps through crossing with coccum, the word behind coque.^{[2][4][3][5][6]} Bloch and Wartburg compare Italian coccia (“shell, rind”).^[5] P. Guiraud instead proposed a Gallo-Romance *costeus, from costa (“side, flank”).^[3][6] Littré took the word from Flemish, comparing English cod.^[7]

The sense “metal ring” (1552) is treated by the TLFi and the FEW as a separate borrowing of Dutch kous (“stocking”), itself from Old Picard cauce, the equivalent of chausse.^[2][8][9] Rey doubts that there are two words, since a ring that sheathes a rope is a natural metaphor from the pod.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rashi glosses it as Judeo-French kuss at the end of the 11th century, and Gautier de Coinci writes cosse about 1225, meaning the pod holding the seeds of a legume.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the end of the 14th century the word extended to the husks or fruit of other plants, such as the chestnut, broom and gorse.^[3][2] The Order of the cosse de genêt, an old order of chivalry, had a collar of broom pods.^[7][2]

As a nautical word for a grooved iron ring that protects a rope it is recorded in Rabelais in 1552 and again in 1677.^[2][3] Other technical senses rest on the idea of a wrapping: the top layer of a quarry (1751), parchemin en cosse (1752), and in electricity the ring fixed to the end of a wire and clamped to a terminal (1924).^[2][9][3] The familiar laisser les cosses meant to keep the best part for oneself.^[2][9]

Timeline

• Late 11th century – Rashi glosses kuss.^[2]
• c. 1225 – Cosse appears in Gautier de Coinci's Miracles.^[2]
• 1398 – It is used for the fruit of certain trees.^[2]
• 1552 – Rabelais uses it for a ship's metal ring.^[2][3]
• 1751 – The Encyclopédie uses it for the top layer of a slate quarry.^[2][9]
• 1924 – The electrical sense is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The pod holding the seeds of legumes such as peas, beans or lentils.^[10][2]
2. The pod or husk of certain shrubs and trees: une cosse d'ajonc.^[7][9]
3. (electricity) A ring terminal at the end of a wire, clamped to a post: les cosses d'un câble.^[10][2]
4. (nautical) A thimble, a grooved metal ring that holds a rope and keeps it from wearing.^[2][7]
5. (technical) The top layer of a quarry.^[9][2]

Word family

• cossu
• écosser
• cossette

cosse² laziness

Pronunciation

• /kɔs/^[1]

Forms

cosse f^[6][11]

Etymology

The word for laziness is probably a back-formation from French cossard (“lazy”), on the model of flemme beside flemmard.^[3][6][12] The adjective (1898) is itself probably formed from cossu “well-off” with a change of suffix, a well-off man being rich enough not to work.^[2][3] Esnault instead derived the noun from cosson, a beetle living under bark, since many insect names express idleness, but Rey notes that the beetle's name has no such figurative use in the 19th century.^[3] Bloch and Wartburg take both slang words as probably a metaphor from the word for the pod.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is recorded by G. Esnault in 1899 in the sense “laziness”;^[9][10] Rey dates it 1900,^[3][6] and the Bob slang dictionary gives 1892.^[13]

Semantic evolution

It has stayed a familiar or popular word for laziness, chiefly in avoir la cosse and tirer sa cosse.^[11][14] Barbusse wrote monsieur a la cosse toute la journée, and Genet plays on les petits pois and j'ai la cosse.^[9][6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (familiar) Laziness, idleness: avoir la cosse, to feel lazy, tirer sa cosse, to do nothing.^[11][14][6]